Now many slaves, and freemen as well, some through fear and others for pity of Lentulus and the rest, made preparations to deliver them all forcibly and rescue them from death. Cicero learned of this beforehand and occupied the Capitol and Forum betimes by night with a garrison. At dawn he received from above an inspiration to hope for the best: for in the course of sacrifices conducted in his house by the Vestals in behalf of the populace, the fire, contrary to custom, shot up in a tongue of great length. Accordingly, he ordered the praetors to administer an oath to the populace and have them enlisted, in case there should be any need of soldiers, and meanwhile himself convened the senate: then, by throwing them into agitation and fright, he persuaded them to condemn to death the persons held under arrest. [-36-] At first the senators had been at variance, and came near setting them free. For while all before Caesar had voted that they should be put to death, he gave his decision that they should be imprisoned and deported to various cities after having their property confiscated, with the condition that there should be no further deliberation about immunity for them, and if any one of them should run away, he should be considered among the enemies of that city from which he fled. Then all who subsequently made known their opinions, until it came to Cato, cast this vote, so that some of the first also changed their minds. But the fact that Cato himself gave a sentence of death against them caused all the rest to vote similarly. So the conspirators were punished by the decision of the majority and a sacrifice and period of festival over them was decreed,--something that had never before happened from any such cause. Others, also, against whom information was lodged, were sought out and some incurred suspicion and were held to account for merely intending to join that party. The consuls managed most of the investigations, but Aulus Fulvius, a senator, was slain by his own father; and some think that the latter was not the only private individual who did this. There were many others, that is, not only consuls but persons in private life, who killed their children. This was the course of affairs at that time.